At its peak, after a rapid growth in the 1950s, the village had more than 10,000 inhabitants. The small village saw a large number of new arrivals after changes in the methods of iron ore mining were implemented in 1953. Nearly all of the new arrivals were refugees from Mainland China, who worked as miners and came to live in the area with their families. The exploitation of the mine ended in 1976 and the miners subsequently left the village with their families, leading to a decline of the population. As of 2014, the village was home to 80 people.
The Ma On Shan Iron Mine opened in 1906 as an opencast site run by the Hong Kong Iron Mining Company. In 1949, the mine was taken over by the Mutual Mining and Trade Company, which extended it underground in 1953. By 1959, mining had moved entirely underground. The mine ceased operation in 1976. The workforce of 400 was laid off. The government mining lease ended in 1981 and the mine closed subsequently.
Lutheran Yan Kwong Church
The Lutheran Yan Kwong Church was inaugurated on 22 June 1952. It was part of a five-building complex that included a church, a primary school, a kindergarten, quarters, and a store. The primary school and the kindergarten closed in 1976. Lutheran Primary School was subsequently relocated to Heng On Estate in Ma On Shan and was renamed Ma On Shan Lutheran Primary School in 1987. The church complex was then converted into a camp site, the Grace Youth Camp. In 2003, landslides caused by heavy rainstorms damaged the complex and made it unsafe. It was abandoned the same year. The church building was revitalised after 2014 and reopened in 2015 as a community hall and a centre to highlight the history and culture of the old village. The former primary school building was converted into a hostel for church members and the former teachers' quarters was converted into an activity room.
St. Joseph's Church
The Roman Catholic St. Joseph's Church was inaugurated on 25 April 1952. It was part of a Catholic building complex established on the top of a small hill in the 1950s, that also included the St. Joseph's Primary School, adjacent to the church, a kindergarten, a small clinic and a convent. The church was rebuilt in 1962. The church stopped its regular Sunday services in 1981, with limited missionary service subsequently performed by Father Wu. It was closed in 1999, and the church complex became vacant.
Present and future
The residential part of the village has been described as "only small and short squatter area". Several sets of structures of Ma On Shan Village were listed as historic monuments in April 2016: Exterior walls of 240 ML and 110 ML of Ma On Shan Iron Mine, Mineral Preparation Plant of Ma On Shan Iron Mine, Site Structures at Mining Settlement of Ma On Shan Iron Mine, St. Joseph's Church and Lutheran Yan Kwong Church.
